Cincinnati Appraiser botched my appraisal Square Footage is Significantly Understated

[Michigan CG]

It is very unlikely that three appraisers and the assessor have the EXACT same square footage, especially in a two story home. Some appraisers use tapes, some use lasers, some use wheels.

Some appraisers round to the foot, some to the half foot, some to the 1/4 foot on a wall. It is hard to imagine four people coming up with the exact same area unless three of those people relied on the assessor.

Many do not measure, they use the assessor records and assessors are many times very wrong on GLA. For homes that are "1.5-story or 1.75-story" the assessor simply takes the ground floor area and multiplies by 1.5 or 1.75 to get the GLA. This is NOT how appraisers are supposed to do it.

So when three people have the same GLA as the assessor it raises questions considering assessor are many times wrong.

 

[elodealeaf]

Well, the appraiser, as I will give him credit, came over today and went upstairs about 30 seconds, agreed that his square footage was incorrect and notified me he would send me a revised appraisal reflecting the proper square footage and an increase in the appraised market value.

So, I was correct in my assertion herein that he was absolutely incorrect measuring square footage.

He is revising it, only after I complained several times, and to be fair, my initial complaints may not have been communicated to him by his assistant, but bottom line is that when you make a mistake, you fix it, or you should expect your clients to get ****ed off and really have no excuse for being offended when the requests for an appraiser or any professional (I'm a CPA) requests that you take another look even when the requests become nasty. Being nice with him simply did not work.

If this thread in any way influenced him to change his mind and come do this, it's a good thing. Still, his reaction was too late. I knew it was wrong when I filed it, but he was unable to do a thing until today despite repeated complaints. That simply is not acceptable.

Jeff Sprague

 

[elodealeaf]

Catrina, I agree, the comp in his appraisal is a huge house that was in significant disrepair. It has a porch upstairs that connect the upstairs bedrooms on the outside but that porch or, actually it's about a four foot wide walkway with a "fence" on the outside about waist high (I'm 5' 10") is not usable b/c it isn't safe as it could fall down anytime. Part of the reason the house is so large is that the built in garage was converted to living space so it is the only house on the street with no garage. All other houses on the street have a built in garage of some type. some in the front of the house (more common with the ranches) and some in the rear (most cape cods have a "U" shaped driveway with the garage door in the back like mine and the garage is part of the basement), but I know that when houses were built on the street, all were required to have built in garages. But it seems that was the only restriction because there are no two houses alike, and move a street over and the variations become more extreme. Something .6 or .7 miles away.... you start (potentially) to get into school district issues. People like our part of our town b/c the schools are great and if the school can't pass a levy, our part of the city is generally preferred not just b/c the houses are newer and nicer, but b/c the first thing they cut is bus service, but where I live, the State of Ohio requires the City to provide bus service because we are far enough from all three schools... elementary, middle, and high school that they can't cut that. So, it's really hard to compare anything.

 

[elodealeaf]

And the other 3 appraisers did not have exactly the same square footage, but close enough. Very close. Actually all within one foot one way or another of the County. I don't think they're getting out the tape measure. I think they look at the sketches on the auditor's website (which I have checked and know to be correct to within an immaterial amount). But I certainly know the upstairs has geometrical twin bedrooms (to within a foot). Not a large br and a small one. As I stated before, casual observation can confirm that.

 

[elodealeaf]

I also saw someone post requirements as set forth by the State of Ohio at the time you make a complaint. Well, the State of Ohio leaves these requirements to the counties. I used to live in Franklin County and it's a far easier process. Very easy for residential complaints. You do not necessary need an appraisal and that is true in Ham County for that matter, but the difference in Franklin County is you simply mail it in and it is generally accepted unless there is a glaring problem with it. I know a lot of people there and they don't have a problem. My folks live in Lucas County and they have slightly different requirements and a different process, but it's a piece of cake compared to the Ham County process. I can only guess that by putting up the fiercest fight possible, the money Ham County obviously spends to do that, by having these silly hearings, they are getting back by getting people to give up on their convoluted process that is far more demanding and complex for a simple residential home. It is clear that their philosophy is to fight all complaints as hard as possible. But unlike other States, Ohio is pretty much hands off unless you file a lawsuit against the Count in State Court, which makes sense. Indiana funds its public schools and many other services on the state level. Ohio does it on the local level.

 

[JamesRockford]

Some appraisers use tapes, some use lasers, some use wheels.

Some appraisers round to the foot

That is not only laughable but also is likely to produce a misleading appraisal report.

 

[elodealeaf]

Ahhh... they were not the same to the foot and your reply is completely unrelated to my question. The FACT is that the guy admitted he botched it, came over today, spent 30 seconds here (taking exact measurements I'm sure) and supposedly will send me a new appraisal.

 

[Webbed Feet]

Are you saying that the sketch from the assessor and three other appraisals are identical?

HHHmmmm,.......

"Hmmmm" is what I thought to. The numbers given for the assessors footage and those appraisal reports footages that match or only miss by one foot is not possible in any appraisal world I've worked in.

I vote the B.S. going on involves all those appraisers that just somehow mysteriously matched the assessor's measurements.

 

[Webbed Feet]

Me too

If the last appraiser measured your house with less gross living area (square footage) than the assessor and three prior appraisers did, how does the smaller gross living area not work in your favor on a tax appeal?

I was looking for this question. How does a SMALLER house that should have LESS value (versus the supposedly larger GLA claimed) end up NOT in the favor of a property owner at a tax appeal?

If the concern here is the appeals board would "question" why the appraisal report does not match the assessor's records, the answer would simply be .... "The appraiser measured it that way................."

 

[Webbed Feet]

Amend

OK, this is becoming frivolous. If you look at the sketch and come in my house, it is clear that the first 3 appraisals I had done on the house are accurate depictions of the house dimensions and the last one, as both bedrooms upstairs are EXACT GEOMETRICAL TWINS IN EVERY THREE DIMENSIONAL WAY, and his diagram depicts one large bedroom upstairs and one small... it is easy to ascertain where the error was made. His sketch of the upstairs is clearly incorrect. It's as simple as that. I'll have to take my chances and I'll ask a real estate agent for advice.

Again, ALL 4 appraisals sketch the downstairs living area with the exact same dimensions.

A) Get appraisal report amended.
B) Amend board of taxation appeal.